I feel guilty sometime and can’t pinpoint the reason.  All of us feel guilty from time to time.  As Christians, we are bombarded with lists of things we are supposed to do.  Someone wryly observed that guilt is the gift that lasts forever.  How tragic that so many of us suffer from never-ending guilt.

It is right to feel guilty when we stray from God’s will or give in to a temptation.  This is the Holy Spirit convicting us of sin, prompting us to confess it to God.  When we confess it, we should no longer feel guilty because it no longer exists. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”  (Psalm 103:12)  Technically, if ask for God to forgive a sin and still feel guilty and request forgiveness again, God would say, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”   That guilt is not the Holy Spirit convicting you; it is Satan accusing you in an effort to rob you of joy.

There is no need to feel guilty for not being perfect.  Many of us have impossible expectations of ourselves.  We somehow think that as a Christian we should be living flawless lives.  We are weak human beings and are going to fall.  Such guilt is false and destructive to our faith.  I have seen some good Christians that constantly felt guilty for not being perfect and finally simply threw up there hands and quit.  They are no longer attending church or serving the Lord.

Rather than allowing ourselves in being trapped in false guilt, we should live life aggressively, knowing we will make mistakes but knowing also that Christ has paid the price for our salvation.  When we fall and give in to temptation, we should get up, confess our sin, and, confident of God’s grace and forgiveness, move forward again.